The Magician's Assistant
by OnlyALittleMad
Summary: Sequel to I Am Who I Am. Story Summary inside.
1. Finding Emcee

The Magician's Assistant

**The Magician's Assistant**

**Plot Summary: **Terrence Masters, a year ago learning that he is the son of a famous trapeze artist in Germany has spent all his time finding any information about her.. His stepmother, Isabella has arranged a meeting with Waldo Weirton, an eccentric candy maker in Bavaria, whose wife just happens to be Isabella's own sister Rosa Marie. Aided by his not so cured mother Wendy, William must learn that on the way to reaching the top you have to expect a stumble or two.

**Prologue**

The attic of Terrence's house held many secrets. Small secrets, big secrets and secrets that some people didn't want found. However, Terrence himself was the one who found that particular secret. It was a book of notable people throughout the years of 1960 and 1970. He flipped through it and found the woman he was looking for.

**Emcee Darrow: **_Formally Jessica Lynn Darrow. Born in Bristol to parents Lynn and Patrick Darrow, she was the subject of many arguments. The pair had divorced when Emcee was two years old and they both could not bring themselves to decide whom she should live with. Then a struggling circus acrobat, Patrick took his daughter to the travelling fair he was then involved with. Entranced by this new world, she started up as an acrobat at the tender age of five. Often called "The One Child Wonder" by spectators, her fame skyrocketed, leading to her father being promoted to ringleader. Lynn, realizing her daughter's talent settled her differences with her husband to allow Jessica to spend half a year every year with him. By the late 1950's, the father daughter duo were legends until Jessica met a fellow travelling circus performer who happened to have the job that Jessica would take on. He was a trapeze artist. She took nine months off from the show in early 1959 and gave birth to a baby boy named Terrence, named after Jessica's childhood dog, Terry, a small terrier. Rumours swirled soon after the birth of her boy that an unexpected debt had fallen upon the family's home. Following this, Jessica's father retired from the show and Jessica, being the only attraction, led spectators to stop attending. The circus show went bankrupt leaving Jessica with a multitude of unpaid bills. She moved to Germany soon after this and became the ringmaster of a travelling circus group. Her son was not to be found. The father lives in __Amberg, Bavaria and never speaks of his son when asked…_

"Bavaria…" Terrence said quietly to himself. Did he know someone there? The name rung a bell.

No wait! He didn't know any one living there but he knew someone who was going there. Isabella, his stepmother, had arranged a visit with her estranged sister Rosa Marie in Walsdorf. She had recently married an eccentric candy maker named Waldo Weirton, with whom Terrence's best friend William had been interested in meeting. Wendy, William's mother, recently released from a mental hospital still had something funny about the way she walked, but other than that she was completely normal. She was the one who spent days, no weeks, finding out every scrap of information on Emcee. Maybe there was a chance they could meet.

Suddenly, there came a scaping of footsteps along the staircase to the attic. Terrence quickly shut the book and sat on it. To his relief it was only William.

"Hey Will. Shouldn't you be in the kitchen making chocolate explode or…something?"

"Good idea but maybe a bit too dangerous for today. Is this a bad time?" Will added when he noticed the book Terrence was sitting on.

"Well…yes. I mean no. No, I was just looking up my mother." Terrence said, pulling the book out from under him.

"Do you spend all your time looking her up? Doesn't it get boring looking at the same stuff all the time?"

"Dont' you get bored making candy all the time?" Terrence asked, flipping the book open again.

"Of course not! I never…Oh! Right. Point taken."

Terrence smiled and looked at his friend.

"You know it's been a month but I still am having a hard time not seeing you without those braces."

"I'm just glad to feel a breeze around my skull." William said.

Terrence chuckled and turned back to the book.

"So Bavaria. That should be fun. Too bad I won't have any entertainment when your gone. I mean, there's Veronica and Ruthy…but Corny Collins was cancelled a week ago. And what was it replaced with? Ask me!" Terrence demanded.

"Disco balls." William said.

"Disco balls." Terrence repeated and flipped back to the page in the book with his mother.

"Well it's a new era and a new world. Everything might change."


	2. Have To Find Her

_Dear Mr. Darrow,_

_Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, I could not manage to find enough information about your father. He lives as a recluse and would not grant an audience with me. Perhaps he might have spoken with me briefly had he known that you were involved. I did manage, however to get information from his housemaid, Linda. She happened to be told by your father not to speak to anyone, but when I told her of you, she told me what she knew._

_Your mother Emcee, though traveling with her circus troupe at present, lives in East Berlin, a poor part of the city. I regret to inform you that even if you were to reacquaint yourself with your father, you may not be able to meet your mother. He is attempting to send funds over to her but many people he has sent to the wall have, tragically not returned. It is getting harder and harder for him to send money over when The Berlin Wall separates East and West Germany into two. He fears that she may lose her house if doesn't continue to pay the rent and may become homeless. It is a sad story indeed but it is one that may be very difficult to become a happy one once again. My apologies._

_Hoping you're well,_

_Nancy Welch, Lindau Germany_

* * *

William put the letter back on the table and shook his head at Terrence, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Maybe I should have just read it myself. What does it say?" he asked.

"She's over The Berlin Wall."

Terrence put his head in his hands for a few moments. William looked sympathetically at his friend but he could find no other way to calm him. Terrence had sent a letter a few weeks ago to the island where William would soon be going in hopes of getting information. A friend of Isabella's lived there but as the letter said, no good news seemed to be present.

"The Berlin Wall. How am I supposed to get over that? What if I never meet her Will?" Terrence said, sounded like he may very well cry.

"There's still hope. Your mother is the ringmaster of a circus and maybe I'll meet her when she comes to Germany." William responded.

"And then what? Is she going to send me letters saying how much she missed me? I can't wait any longer. I need to see her!"

Frustrated, Terrence banged his hand on the table. A Rubik's cube, that Wendy had been working on jumped up from the force of the boy's blow to the table. It slid off the edge and landed with a clatter to the floor.

"How long has your mom been working on that thing?" Terrence asked, trying to change the subject.

William shrugged. "Not long. She's writing BBSTG on the walls lately. She keeps telling me about how these kids will be important."

"What was that riddle she was talking about yesterday?" Terrence asked.

"Buckets of Salt make a mess of Gloop. These things should not be seen on your Tevee set. And yet James little Beau regards the images on her telly. There really ought to be more interesting things to watch. Call the television company."

"That makes no sense at all." Terrence said. He scrunched his face up in concentration.

"It's their names." said a voice.

The two boys turned around to see Wendy, William's mother. The years away from the asylum had done the woman good, however she had acquired a few special quirks. One was her reading of crystal balls. Another was her interest in small rag dolls. The last was her acting like a small child. Though having her moments of wisdom, she looked at everything with a new childlike curiosity.

"B is Bucket. Another is Beauregard. Third is Salt. T stands for Tevee and G is Gloop."

Her eyes trailed down to the floor and she gasped.

"My cube. What have you done to my cube?"

Wendy rushed over and picked it up. She immediately began to fiddle with it, trying to assemble all the colours in right order.

"It fell." William said.

His mother didn't listen. She began to get all the small blue squares on one side.

"You know I would love a boysenberry." Wendy suddenly said. Terrence gave his friend a look.

"She will get better soon. Maybe the fresh air in Germany will help her." William said quietly.

"Maybe it will do me some good." Terrence responded.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm coming with you. I need to meet my mother."

* * *

**I'm trying to study more on the island in Bavaria. Lindau is located near a lake that creates a border between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The next chapter will go into more detail.**


	3. Skip To Chapter Four

Ambrose Hambridge should have been a happy person

Ambrose Hambridge should have been a happy person. He was living on a quiet section of Lindau, had a beautiful wife in Rosa Marie Masters and an adopted daughter Parker. Not only was he becoming a very famous candy maker but he was also expecting a second child in a few months. Ambrose should have been happy. However, it was as far from the truth as you could get. Ambrose Hambridge was very upset.

"I can't stand it any longer! I can't teach a child to make candy!" he shouted at his best friend Jessica late one morning.

Ambrose had come to Germany from Bristol. He was very foreign in Lindau at first as he only spoke English. After meeting Rosa Marie and falling in love, he decided to stay at the island and spent years perfecting his German speech. His short sandy brown hair often looked to be in a bed head style. In fact, it was. Ambrose often spent long days in his inventing room, never combing his hair because he never left the house. His clothes, as he told people who asked, reflected his mood for the day. This morning, he was wearing a bright purple t-shirt and neon green pants. No one could figure out his mood of the day was on this day.

"I'm in the middle of a crisis Ambrose. I need the money from my show. Now your saying that you dragged me all the way to Lindau to tell me that you can't teach a small boy?" Jessica said outraged.

"This is more important than your circus show! If I can't teach him, people may look down on me. I'm trying to preserve my father's legend. I can't insult my father's memory by failing and then losing this job."

"You won't lose your job. You're going to do a great thing for this boy. He could be the next legend."

"Or the next epic failure."

Ambrose sat down at the kitchen table, followed closely by Jessica. She was still dressed in her ringmaster outfit, a bright shade of pink that seemed to complement her rare violet eyes. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall past her shoulders, the top of her head overtaken by a glittery purple top hat.

She leaned in close to him.

"You are the luckiest man I have ever had the fortune to know. You have a beautiful daughter who I wish I had. Do you know what I wouldn't give to get Terrence back? I had to give him up to be adopted because I couldn't take care of him. But you have everything I don't have and more. What better a man to teach an aspiring candy maker?"

"But she's adopted. And she won't even listen to Rosa Marie because she's not her real mother. Parker is a rebellious child and I feel like I'm torn between trying to stop her from going down the wrong path and doing my job! You've seen her. Rosa Marie is far too pregnant to run after her anymore. Then there's Julian…"

Ambrose broke off.

"What about Julian?" Jessica asked.

"Well, you know he teaches her how to play the guitar? He's getting older. He's nearly thirty-two and he keeps going to bars. Parker is almost seventeen and she's started to go drinking with him."

"Can't you stop Parker? You're her father."

"Step father as she constantly reminds me. I don't know Jessica. Maybe I'm doing something wrong as a father."

"You just have to find time to talk with her. It will all work out I promise you." Jessica said, putting her hand on Ambrose's shoulder. She took a deep breath and got up from her chair.

"Isn't the boy coming tomorrow?" she asked.

Ambrose nodded. "With some other boy. Apparently he decided to come at the last minute."

Jessica shrugged.

"Well, I think it's time I rejoin my troupe. We're heading to Munich next." She said proudly.

"Good luck with that." Ambrose said rather unenthusiastically.

Jessica kissed him on top of his head and pat him on the back.

"It will all work out somehow. The boy will be someone. I just know it."

**This is the first chapter I wrote that doesn't involve William. It felt a bit strange but I really wanted to introduce some of the new characters right away. If I wrote this from William's perspective, some of these characters probably wouldn't be seen until about chapter eight. This is also hopefully going to be the end of my shorter chapters. Just think of these first three chapters as the preamble for what's to come. **


	4. The Thing With Divorce

This is a revised version of chapter three

**This is a revised version of chapter three. I'll keep the original version of chapter three up here but remember that none of the events in it will change the plot in this chapter.**

"_I'm coming with you. I need to meet my mother."_

It had been exactly two weeks since Terrence told William that he was planning on coming to Germany and in that time more serious problems had arisen. For one, a week after the conversation, William's father had shown up at Isabella's house to deliver horrible news. That news came in the form of a paper that Wendy was to sign. Divorce papers, signed already to William's shock, in his father's name. At the time, Wendy and he had been upstairs in Terrence's room when Isabella came.

Her face was ashen as she told Wendy as calmly as she could, but with a shaking voice.

"Your husband is here Wendy. With di…"

She broke off and began to tremble.

William got up from the bed and walked toward Isabella. The woman looked like she was going to have a mental breakdown.

"What happened?" he asked, even though he knew that his face was as pale as Isabella's. How could his father just walk in here after he had been gone for a month? Was he going to beg forgiveness to Wendy like he did before?

Isabella then took a shaky breath in, which caused William to break out of his thoughts to look at her. Wendy was still on the bed, looking curious but otherwise oblivious to what was going on.

"He has divorce papers."

William didn't think his face could get any paler at that moment but it must have at that point. He could feel blood going out of his cheeks.

"Did…Did he mention why?"

"He cited abuse as the cause along with insanity." Isabella responded. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

William turned to his mother who was staring at the window.

How was he going to explain to his fragile mother that her husband wanted a divorce. Divorce which, William though bitterly, was on partly false terms? Yes, insanity was involved but she never was insane before his father kicked her out of the house nearly ten years ago. Then there was the abuse. Was his father intending on pining false abuse on his wife? He abused her after all and not the other way around. Wendy should be the one filing for divorce and not his father. It should have been her with the signed divorce papers standing outside Wilbur's house. Instead it had come to this.

Finally he managed to say what he felt was enough.

"Father is trying to get rid of us."

Wendy then flew completely off the handle. The phrase "get rid of" always made her tempers flare. The doctors had said this may have been because she was thrown out of the house. Wendy Wonka would not stand to be rid of. Not this time. Not again.

"Where is he?" said Wendy, now pacing the room, her expression wild. Isabella drew back into the hallway.

"Still waiting." A voice that seemed to be coming from downstairs called out.

"How dare he even come here after…and how did he know I was here?" Wendy suddenly demanded to Isabella.

"I have no idea. The fact remains is that he is here."

Wendy paced the room in a huff and William looked nervously at Isabella. The doctors had warned that she still had a bit of a temper but perhaps they didn't know how angry she could get. On a slightly good side, with this anger, Wendy seemed to have got her right state of mind together.

"What are you planning on?" Isabella mouthed to William to which he shook his head.

"Custard. That's what he wants. That's what he came for." Wendy suddenly said. Her voice had rapidly changed back to normal.

"We don't actually have custard Wendy but I think he wants those papers signed." Isabella said, looking quite confused as to why on earth Wilbur would want custard.

"No. Not custard. Custody." William said, his eyes widening as a realization came to him.

"Of course. He's trying to take you away." Isabella said, as the information came clear to her as well.

"But why? Why now?" William asked desperately.

However, no answer was given as the chiming of the front door sounded.

"You found the place." Came a female voice that William recognized instantly. It was Ruthy.

"Ruthy told my father where we were." William said quietly. Isabella shushed him and the room fell quiet. He heard murmured talking and then,

"Wendy there's someone here for you!" Ruthy shouted. Isabella winced and rushed down the hallway. She must have motioned for Ruthy to come upstairs because William heard no voices before she came upstairs.

"Wendy. Someone was looking for you. Funny thing is, I feel like I remember him from somewhere." Ruthy said when she got to the room.

"It's my father." William said.

"What does he want?"

"Divorce." William, Wendy and Isabella said in unison.

William watched as Ruthy divided her silent attention between every face in the room. Her face was frozen in an expression of forgiveness and sorrow.

"I didn't know Wendy. I wouldn't have told him where you were had I known."

"It's not your fault. I knew he would find me eventually." William said quietly.

William didn't know the complete reason behind his father wanting a divorce. He had formulated a bitter reason that may very well be the cause. Perhaps Wilbur wasn't planning on divorcing Wendy, but instead was trying to get her to leave him so that he could gain custody. Given that Wendy was still in a fragile condition, his father would be seeking sole custody. If that was the cause of divorce, William figured that he would be locked up in his room, never being able to learn about candy. He might be even forced to a dentist.

"Court is now in session."

William winced and turned his ears to the gavel being banged on the podium. To his left was his mother. Isabella had loaned her a simple black outfit to wear to court. That outfit would not win the case. On the other side was his father in a grey suit, looking quite smug. How could he do this to them? His mind wandered to how happy the family used to be. The moment had become a blur as of late and now he could only remember vividly the time when Wilbur came to beg forgiveness at the hospital. William believed he truly loved her. Would he still be in court if he hadn't stopped Wendy from accepting his father's apology?

"Suffering under delusions?" The judge, a beefy man asked Wilbur, waking William up.

"Yes your honour. My wife was hospitalized and…"

"And I was released!" Wendy demanded, standing up. The judge banged his gavel.

"Mrs. Wonka please control your temper. Mr. Wonka you may continue."

"And she had been in that hospital for years. Nearly five. As my wife says she was released but only just recently." Wilbur said, and then sat back down in his chair.

Wendy curled her fists into balls on the table. She looked as though she was desperately trying to control her emotions. As a result she was half sobbing. Isabella, who had accompanied William to the court, stood up herself and walked over toward the judge.

"Have you got something to say Miss…?"

"Masters. Isabella Masters. I have been providing lodgings for Mrs. Wonka and her son." Isabella said.

"What are you doing?" William mouthed but Isabella gave him a look and turned back to the judge.

"That is exactly the case I would like to bring up your honour. Miss Masters has been keeping my wife and son from me for months." Wilbur said.

"Mr. Wonka please let the woman speak." The judge said and nodded to Isabella.

"Thank you your honour." Isabella said and then paced in a small circle before continuing.

"I have known Mrs. Wonka's son for quite some time now and in that time I have been told many portions of information. For one, the child in question is suffering under a syndrome called parental alienation. This occurs when a child garners rather harsh opinions on a parent based on events that the parent has done to them. When William was around the age of six, he witnessed his mother being thrown out by his father. For years he presumed her to be dead until I told him otherwise. Now another point your honour, is that for nearly a year and some months, William was held prisoner in his house being kept by his father based on the fact that he did not want his son engaging in certain activities. We can only assume from that your honour that Wilbur is not properly suited to have custody."

William could have cried and looking to his left, he saw that Wendy already was, looking at Isabella with gratitude. Isabella herself sat back down beside him.

"This brings up a whole other matter Mr. Wonka. Both of you seem to have traits that would not be suitable for raising a child." The judge said.

Wendy smirked despite the fact that she was deemed to be unsuitable.

Banter continued to erupt between the two parents. This banter, which carried on for at least twenty minutes, had the judge banging his gavel down several times. Eventually, it was Wendy who brought up the point that closed the case.

She lifted up her shirt just enough so you could see her stomach.

"My word! Where did you get those scars?" the judge asked in astonishment.

Wendy put her shirt down and then said,

"Courtesy of my husband who did damage far greater than this some years ago. It was only though Isabella that I was able to get the treatment I needed."

The judge glared at Wilbur who shrunk back a bit in shock.

"Arrest him."

Two men came from the sides and put Wilbur in handcuffs. Wendy smirked once again as her husband was dragged out of the court room. William was stunned. She turned back to the judge.

"About those divorce papers."


	5. The Plan

From about the time that Wendy had signed the divorce papers and headed back with William and Isabella to the home they were s

From about the time that Wendy had signed the divorce papers and headed back with William and Isabella to the home they were staying in she had managed to drive herself half mad once again.

"Everything was red. Five years of bad energy searing toward me. You think you can take my child and throw him back in his little prison cell you call his bedroom? Oh come on Wilbur, I know you better than that. I know you really can't stand me. Bad energy. Really bad energy…"

William looked at Isabella in worry. Wendy had been muttering things to herself for the past five minutes.

"Maybe its best if she was back in…" Isabella began but was cut off as she just managed to avoid getting hit in the head with Wendy's right arm which had flung up high in the air unexpectedly.

"I think I need something to drink…maybe some wine…."

"I don't think so Mrs. Wonka. What you need is some rest and maybe some water." Isabella said, lowering Wendy's arm and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Mother do you remember signing the divorce papers?" William called out desperately from behind. He was hoping she hadn't reached the faze where she couldn't perceive what was going on around her.

"I didn't sign anything. What you mean…papers?" Wendy asked.

"She doesn't remember Bella. We need to make her remember. I can't have her losing custody. I'll never get to Germany then." William called out to Isabella.

"Who are you?" Wendy asked.

"I have a plan for that. We leave for Germany and take Wendy with us. If we put her back in the hospital your father will find out and you will be put up for adoption potentially due to the fact that he is in jail now." Isabella said, ignoring Wendy for the moment.

"But she's hardly in the right state. They won't let an insane woman on the plane."

"I've arranged for a doctor from Germany to come care for her. I had a feeling that this might happen."

"You had a feeling?" William asked, starting to get angry. Wendy had spent a good amount of time in Isabella's house and from what everyone else could see Wendy was recovering. Now Isabella had the nerve to say that she had doubts about her condition. If she was even the least bit worried, why would she invite Wendy into her home?

"Yes I had a feeling. I thought that we could arrange for a doctor to come here and escort Wendy quietly to where we will be going. Some name changes might have to come into place but we can put her in a suitable hospital in Germany and you can stay with my sister."

"That's absurd! Do you know you could face jail if you get caught?" William shouted but then he looked around him. Luckily, there were no people on the streets at the moment. Wendy, who was still draped around Isabella suddenly yelled,

"Who are you?"

William timidly approached his mother who looked completely confused as to what was going on.

"I'm your son. And I'll take care of you."

He then turned to Isabella.

"I won't let anything bad happen to her and I don't want you going to jail. We can't just leave!"

Isabella bit her lip and looked up at the sky. She struggled with her words, opening and closing her mouth every so often. Finally the words came to her.

"Listen Will, I know you are meant to be a candy maker. If we send your mother back to the hospital in here you will be in an orphanage before you know it! I can't let that happen to you." Isabella said calmly.

William stood still for a moment.

"You could adopt me." He suggested.

Isabella laughed.

"Will if I could I would but I know I can't. It's just too complicated. Plus and be honest with me now. Do you really want yourself to be referred to as the amazing William Masters? It's fitting if you're a magician's assistant but not a world renown chocolatier."

William paused and his eyes flicked to his mother.

"You wouldn't do anything to hurt her will you?" he asked.

"Will…Are you actually agreeing?" Isabella asked, stunned.

"Well…I suppose. But what if something goes wrong? What then?"

"We won't know until we try."

William gave a heavy sigh and then looked up at Isabella, nodding.

"Ok. Let's try."

* * *

It would go down as one of the riskiest things he would ever do. Yet William was agreeing to this outrageous plan for one simple reason. He wanted to make chocolate. He wanted it more than anything in that moment. Isabella was right. If he tried really hard he could very well become an amazing candy maker.

The next few days were planned out very carefully. They would monitor Wendy's condition and the doctor would see if she was well enough to accompany them or if he had to take her himself. Terrence studied maps of Germany and found out about hospitals near by. There was transportation and name changes that needed to be arranged. They had to do this very quietly but despite everyone's careful planning, William was still worried about what would happen if anything went wrong. Finally the day came when they were leaving for the airport and Terrence had some news.

"I won't be coming with you to Walsdorf."

William nearly dropped his suitcase.

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to find your mother."

"Oh I am. I'll just be in Lindau visiting Nancy. She might have information about my father. I figure I see him I get closer to finding my mom."

The two boys stared at each other for a long stretch of time.

"But you have always been with me." William said, shocked.

"And I'll come back to see you but I have to find her first."

"We'll search with you."

"No! You have to become a candy maker. I'm not going to stop you from reaching your dreams."

"Who will you stay with?" William asked.

"Isabella." He said and William sucked in his breath.

"Listen Will, we were going to tell you before. Rosa Marie is very willing to care for you while you are Waldo's apprentice."

"I don't even know them!" William shouted.

"You will. I hear they are very nice people. My cousin is our age." Terrence said.

"But…" William began but could find nothing to say. What could he say?

"Well I hope you find her." William said at last.

Terrence pressed his lips together, seemed to try repressing something and then he hugged his friend.

"Become really good at making candy Will. I want to try the first thing you start to sell."

William couldn't hold it in any longer. He started to cry.


End file.
